US Dairy Watches as New Trade Pact Takes Effect

Jan 09, 2019

Six countries last month implemented the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership (CPTPP), a modified version of the Trans-Pacific Partnership that emerged after the United States withdrew in January of 2017. The trade pact, which includes 11 countries located in the Asia-Pacific region, changes the landscape for U.S. dairy products abroad and gives preferential market access to the region for exporters in Canada, Japan, Mexico, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.

The governments of Brunei, Chile, Malaysia and Peru have not yet implemented the agreement, but the pact will enter into force in Vietnam on Jan. 14. The CPTPP addresses several aspects important to global trade, including trade remedies, regulatory practices for goods and services, and dispute settlement clauses.

Many of these countries’ markets are valuable to U.S. dairy exporters. Southeast Asia is the second largest U.S. dairy export market at over $690 million in 2017. Japan, for example, represents the industry’s fourth largest market and accounted for U.S. dairy sales of more than $290 million in 2017. Mexico, the first signatory, is the largest importer of U.S. cheese.

IDFA has stressed to the administration and Congress that trade agreements with markets in the Asia-Pacific region are critically important to the continued growth of the U.S. dairy industry. IDFA will continue to work with federal officials and members of Congress to expand opportunities for dairy in new trade agreements and seek more market access for dairy products abroad.

For more information, contact Beth Hughes, IDFA senior director of international affairs, at bhughes@idfa.org.